Farewell to the Flower Girl
by mystic moogle
Summary: We'll never know how she planned to save the Planet from a falling comet or Sephiroth, but with her certainty and smile, I am led to believe that she could have saved us all. Cloud/Aeris.


**A/N:** This will contain spoilers for Disc 1 of FF VII. I recently completed said Disc and I'm utterly devastated! I knew it was going to happen and everything, but I still… well, either way I'm sure a retelling of this has been done a million times, but I would like to have my own version as well featuring a poetic Cloud. I hope you enjoy this tribute to our dear flower girl from the slums.

x – x - x

I descend down the steps in the watery cavern. There she is, poised like a maiden in prayer upon the glassy platform, trapped in a crystal. I have to get her out. My heart clenches as I race forward and stand before the stepping stones leading me to her. My friends trail behind me as I make my way onto the first column, but I urge them away. This is personal.

I lift my gaze to her kneeling form, hoping she'll hear me. "Aeris?" My voice sounds tentative, so unlike my usual blasé manner. I hop across the rest of the columns, my heart hammering in my chest every step of the way, and enter the glass shrine. Her eyes are closed as she kneels with her hands clasped in prayer.

As soon as I walk forward, a strange feeling engulfs me. My vision flashes red for a moment, before I quickly shake my head and continue. Aeris needs me. The feeling grows stronger, pulling me away from myself, my consciousness. I grasp my head in agony and fall to my knees. There's a voice in my head, whispering...

Against my better judgement, I draw my sword and stand up as if possessed. I gaze upon her with new eyes, seeing a delicate creature instead of my friend Aeris. Something pulls me towards her, and I resist the darkness with all my being, but it isn't enough. My body twitches. My fingers suddenly ache for her blood.

 _No...!_

Trapped, I raise my blade as if to end her, but the voices of my friends wake me from my stupor.

"Cloud!" Barret's voice.

"Stop it!" Vincent's raspier one.

Shaking my head, I back away in fear and glance at my colossal blade. "Ugh... what are you making me do?" I ask the voice in my head, but my attention is drawn away as Aeris opens her eyes.

Our eyes meet, my azure ones and her vivid green ones, and I school my expression into one of calm contemplation. She looks like a goddess, kneeling there with her hands clasped to her chest in prayer. She lifts her head and her brows soften as a smile graces her lips.

 _Aeris..._

I desire to walk forward and sweep her into my arms, but a figure draped in black descends from the light above. Time slows as Sephiroth lands behind Aeris and impales her with his blade, right in the stomach. She flops forward like a ragdoll, impaled upon his blade, and he lifts his gaze to mine possessively. His eyes are cat-like and shrewd, almost glowing as he stands behind her, claiming possession of her life.

My mouth goes dry and my fingers twitch as Sephiroth slides his sword out of her body and she falls forward, her pink hair ribbon flying off and a pale green materia falling to the glassy platform like a teardrop. It lands with a 'clink' and emits a pure sound as it bounces down the columns and descends into the watery depths below, like Aeris's soul.

I wake from my stupor before she can fall forward fully and rush forward to catch her. Meanwhile, Sephiroth's arms are outstretched as if he's just accomplished something holy.

"...Aeris." My voice sounds choked up as I shake her, gently at first but then with urgency. "This can't be real!"

Her eyes are slipped shut and she harbors a peaceful expression on her face as I feel myself beginning to lose it.

"Do not worry," Sephiroth says as he gazes to the heavens. "Soon the girl will become part of the Planet's energy."

 _Damn him!_

"All that is left is to go North. The 'Promised Land' waits for me over the snowy fields. There I will become a new being by uniting with the Planet. As will this girl..."

His words sound like a funeral call in my head.

"...Shut up," I say quietly as I lean my head closer to Aeris and begin to shake. Abruptly, I lift my gaze to Sephiroth.

"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing. Aeris is gone." Slowly, I turn back to face her beauty as I unwittingly hold her closer. "Aeris will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry... or get angry..." The thought is too much for me. I bow my head in despair as if I could follow her to the heavens. To think, it wasn't too long ago that we had been enjoying ourselves at the Gold Saucer, battling enemies together and exploring the Temple of the Ancients...

How did things turn out this way?

Distraught by Sephiroth's motives, my hair shadows over my eyes as I ask, "What about us... what are WE supposed to do?"

I place Aeris down onto the glassy platform and continue. "What about my pain?" My body begins to shake as I imagine life without Aeris. "My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!"

Sephiroth lowers his arms from his holy position and asks, "What are you saying? Are you trying to tell me you have feelings too?"

He's obviously mocking me.

I stand up at once and shout, "Of course! Who do you think I am?!"

Sephiroth's shoulders begin to shake as a wave of laughter overtakes him. "Ha, ha, ha... stop acting as if you were sad. There's no need to act as if you're angry either."

I watch him with immense hatred as his form lifts off the ground swiftly. "Because, Cloud... you are..." He continues to rise and spirals into the sky, away from the place, leaving me in suspense as something small and round drops beside me.

My vision flashes red for a moment as a monster emerges, flesh-like and colossal. My friends run back up to join me, mindful of Aeris's still form, and a battle commences.

We fight like machines, and I use the battle as an excuse to vent my rage. Unfazed by the monster's colossal form, I swing my blade at it mercilessly, the blade feeling as heavy as my heart. Thoughts of Aeris spiral incessantly through my mind, even though her form is right beside me, slumped over against the glassy walls.

Barret finishes off the monster with his arm cannon and Vincent takes a step back as it vanishes. My shoulders slump as I lower my Buster Sword. A voice intervenes in my head, finishing what Sephiroth started.

" _B_ _ecause, you are... a puppet._ "

" _I'm... a puppet?_ " I ask in confusion, my mind still in a haze.

My vision clears as Aeris's form sits before me in the glass shrine, Barret and Vincent at my side. They gaze upon her remorsefully, each taking a moment to walk up to her and express their condolences thereafter, their brows taut with silent despair. Even Barret, usually quite colorful, remains dutifully silent.

At last, Aeris and I are alone. I walk up to her and lift her into my arms as tenderly as possible as I amble out of the room. She feels delicate in my strong arms and her head is tilted back peacefully.

My comrades watch from afar as I exit the watery cavern, the light streaming down from above, as I wade into the lake and place her into the holy waters. Her hands are clasped like the vision of a goddess as I take one last look at her peaceful visage and slowly back away, raising a hand to my chest in a gesture of respect.

Her body begins to descend into the watery depths, returning to the lifestream at last. If what Sephiroth says is true, then Aeris will become one with the Planet once more.

Her dark brown hair fans out behind her as she makes her descent with a smile on her face.

 _I will never forget you, Aeris,_ I think to myself as I remember her kind spirit and vitality, the unassuming flower girl from the slums who was actually an Ancient. The last remaining Cetra on Earth.

A wave of self-doubt plagues me as I return to my friends. Could I have saved Aeris? If only I had been stronger...

We'll never know how she planned to save the Planet from a falling comet or Sephiroth, but with her certainty and smile, I am led to believe that she could have saved us all.

 _ **fin.**_


End file.
